^ibvavy of Congvcjssi. 






VmT^D STATES OF AMERICA. 



A FIFTY-YEARS MINISTRY. 



TWO DISCOUKSES 



ON 



file ^iftktli §imiyei'S»i| 

OF 

THE AUTHOE'S OEDINATION, 

MARCH ISth, 1815. 



DELIVEKED IN 



MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass., OK SABBATH, MARCH 19, 1865, 

BY 

ISRAEL W. PUTNAM, 

TWENTY YEARS PASTOR OF FIUST CHURCH, PORTSMOUTH, N. H., 

AND 

THIRTY YEARS PASTOR OF THE FIRST CHURCH, MIDDLEBORO', MASS. 



]F*nblislied by Request of his I*eople. 



MIDDLEBORO* 

B. P 

1866. 



^4^' 



MORNING DISCOURSE, 



I Timothy, 1 : 12. — '*^n^ I thank ^htiisi ^esua oui| Isovfi, \ji;"bo hath 
enabled me, foij that he counted me faithful, putting me into the minis- 

Such were the views of the great Apostle respecting the Christian 
ministry, in which he had laboriously and faithfully served his Lord 
and Savior many long years, — even from the time of his wonderful 
conversion. I trust, my hearers, you will consider these words of 
Paul as furnishing this day a suitable theme for him, who now 
addresses you and takes occasion to say, that "he was put into the 
same ministry' fifty years ago. the 15th day of the present month. 

Grateful ought every minister of Christ Jesus to be for the privi- 
lege of laboring in this holy work, even for the shortest period; 
and when any one is continued in it for the term of Fifty Years^ 
he may well "call upon his soul and all that is within him'* to bless 
the forbearance of his couipassionate Lord and Savior. 

But it is a very solemn thing for a minister of Christ to think of 
giving an account of his stewardship even to his felloio mortals for 80 
long a period as the one we are now reviewing. 

The wheels of time, my friends, have borne us along the distnnce 
of more than 18,000 days since I was first consecrated to the minis- 
terial work ; and, during that term, there have occurred over 2600 
Sabbaths, when I ought faithfully to have preached the Gospel of 
Christ to my perishing fellow men, ' whether they would hear or for- 
bear. ' We see how Paid felt in view of the service ke had per- 
formed, as a minister of the gospel. He could say, that his Lord had 
counted him " faithful " in that service. But who of us now in the 
ministry can say the same? And yet the words of Paul, taken in 
connection with the subject, are well calculated to direct our medita- 



tions on this anniverFarj occasion. They are full of interest to the 
preacher and God can make them profitable to those, who are now 
assembled to hear him. 

Let me, therefore, repeat the words of that f-uthful minister of the 
Lord Jesus, which he uttered near the close of his earthly service ; 
^' I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he 
counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. " 

These words of the apostle present us with three views of the Chris- 
tian ministry: 

I. The object and duties of that sacred office; 

IL The source, to which a minister of Christ must look for help, 
if he would be found faithful ; 

ILL The gratitude he owes his Savior f^r sustaining him in his 
labors. 

These different views of the subject, I am aware, look at first rather 
more to the ordinatioii of a minieter of the gospel than to his close oi 
that work ; but they seem to be seasonable to -he occasion oc this day ; 
for I wish to refresh your memories, my friends, with those views of 
God's word, which I have endeavored to teach during my whole min- 
istry ; and they naturally arise from the words of the apostle, as be 
was looking back upon the long work he had performed from 
that memorable hour when he was arrested in his course of 
persecuting the followers of Jesus, and was constrained to cry out in 
the anguish of his soul, saying, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to 
do?" 

Paul, when he wrote to Timothy the words of my text, was turn- 
ing his thoughts back upon the labors, the travels and the persecu- 
tions through which he had passed, while prosecuting that self deny- 
ing work which he had come so ardently to love. It was in this 
retrospective view of wdiat he had personally experienced of the grace 
of that go>pel, which he had preached and for which he hsd suffered 
60 much, that his heart was lifted up in thanksgiving and praise to 
his adorable Savior for having etvihhd him to labor so long in the 
holy ministry, and also for the hope he cherished, that he had been 
faithful in it, 

I am aware, that the several views, which I have proposed to take 
of the subject, might open the way for discussions, that would occupy 



far more time than can this morning be given to them. I shall be 
somewhat brief on each of these topics, for I shall, in the afternoon, 
have occ :sion to notice, in a familiar way. many things of a local and 
historical kind, which have occurred in the twenty years of my min- 
istry in Portsmouth, and in the longer one of nearly thirty years in 
this place. 

I. We are to take a brief view of the object and duties of the 
Christian Ministry. 

Here I mJght say iu a loord. that it is the bringing back into loyal 
obedience to the everlasting and glorious Jehovah, of the millions of 
our sinful world, who have rebelled against his holy authority. 

We live, my hearers, in a part of God's universal empire, which 
h.is revolted agrainst his holy and righteous government. Oar first 
parents were created in the divine image, holy and happy. But 
they early lost that image by sinnirg against their Maker ; and 
their posterity have all inherited iheir sinful itatnre : God hath 
himself declared, that "the whole world lieth in wickedness. " Our 
race have in all ages shown a spirit of alienation from God. Not 
only have all become guilty of transgressing his law. but they have a 
sinful alienated mind, which inclines them to constant disobedience; 
80 that, if lefc to ourselves, we are all exposed to the fearful displeas- 
ure of God in this life, to condemnation in the day of judgment and 
to final and eternal banishment from Heaven — forever to dwell with 
the enemies of the great and eternal Jehovah. 

But God did not leave our world in this perishing condition. In 
the exercise of the glorious attribute of Mercy he has devised a way, 
in which the tranrgressors of his law can be pardoned and be made 
holy and happy forever in his Heavenly Kingdom. For this glorious 
object he has given Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, to die for the 
pardon of sinners and his gracious Spirit to renew and sanctify their 
souls, that they might be prepared to dwell in his holy kingdom above. 

The way, by which God has made known his willingness thus to 
pardon, to sanctify and to save a sinful world, is throiigh /lie cinis- 
tian, 'ministry. Jesus Christ himself, just before he left the world, 
appointed some of his followers, giving them authority to appoint 
others, ^Yho should all go forth, age after age, and preach the gospel 
to every creature, saying, " he, that belicveth and is baptized, shall 
be saved, but he, that believeth not, shall be damned." 



Thus was instituted the Christian ministry, into which our Savior 
has already put hundreds and thousands of his servants and into which 
he will continue to put others even till the world shall end. They 
have gone forth ever since Christ ascended to heaven, saying to the 
children of men, as Paul said to the Corinthians, " Now then we are 
ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us ; we pray 
you in Christ's Ftead be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made 
him to be sia for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the 
righteousness of God in him.'^ Yes, my hearers, the ministers of the 
Lord Joi?u3 go forth now, as they have always done in every age of 
the Christian Dispensation, to declare to their fellow sinners the 
glorious truth, that pardon and eternal life are offered thein through 
the atoning blood of Him who died on Calvary, and that the Holy 
Spirit has come into our world according to the promise of Jesus to 
receive the things of Christ and show them unto men. 

The true ministers of the gospel, teach the great doctiine of Regen- 
eration as it was taught by Jesus himself, telling those who hear them, 
that they 'must be born again or never see the kinadom of God*; they 
inculcate the necessity of repentance of sin and faith in the Lord Je- 
sus Christ: and while they teach these great fundamental doctrines 
of the gospel, ihey exhort believers to live in practicaj obedience to 
christian duties, 'giving all diligence to add to their faith virtue, and 
to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance 
patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, 
and to brotherly kindness charity.' The ministers of Christ inculcate 
the great duty of prayer, a due observance of the Holy Sabbath and 
the special ordinances of the gospel, Baptism and the Lord's Supper. 
They visit the sick and dying, directing their eyes to "The Lamb of 
God. which taketh away the sin of the world." They are perse- 
vering in their labors if faithful^ remembering the earnest exhorta- 
tion of Paul to Timothy to ' preach the word, to be instant in season, 
out of season, to reprove, rebuke and exhort with all long suffering 
and doctrine.' 

Thus, my hearers I have just hinted at the varioua duties and labors 
of christian ministers — duties and labors, which I felt would be re- 
quired of me when I was set apart to the same work ; for what was 
required of them in the times of the apostles, who were instructed by 



Christ himself, is required of their successors in this age of the world. 
They go forth now, if they have the right spirit, as did the early 
ministers of Jesus, to be continued in His service just as long as he 
shall appoint, — some for a short time, others for a ten or twenty or 
fifty years, not counting their life dear to them if they "may win 
Christ and be found in him," as instruments of saving souls from eter- 
nal death. 

Do you wonder then, my hearers, that the apostle, at the close of 
his earthly labors, should ha\e thanked Christ Jesus, his Lord, for 
putting him in to such a ministry ? No ; you cannot wonder, for he 
loved that service with all its trials and all its sufferings : and he 
could give thanks that he was allowed to imitate his Saviour, wha 
while here in the flesh willingly ' endured the contradiction of sinners 
against himself,' if he might thereby save their souls. 

Let us now turn to another view of the subject. 

IE. The source, to which every minister of the gospel must look 
for help, if he would be found faithful. 

The condescension of God in using mortal, sinful men in accomplish- 
ing his holy and merciful design of saving millions of our apostate 
world, is vonderful. indeed ! Jesus might have continued in the 
flesh himself and, through every generation of our race, have 
manifested the same power for the conversion and salvation of men, 
whichever attended his words during his short ministry of three years; 
or, when he ascended up on high, he might have commissioned some 
of the ''ministering spirits," who belonged to the Angelic Hosts to 
take up the work he left here on earth. But such was not the divine 
purpose respecting the salvation of men. 

Tiie gospel, which is "the power of God," was to be preached by a 
succession of thosj very mortal, sinful men, who need its saving grace 
for their own souls; and in this way has this glorious dispensation of 
God's truth been ma:le known in our world ever since the ascension 
of the risen Savior. His own disciples, whom he had so long m- 
Btructed in the things of his kingdom, proceeded at once, after his as- 
cension to heaven, to the work appointed them. Frail, imperfect, 
mortal men they were; but they remembered his gracious promise; 
for when he commanded them to go and preach the gospel to every 
creature, he added this most animating and encouraging word — ''Lo, 
I am with you alway even unto the end of the world." That word 



8 

of promise was sufficient to sustain them in all the labors and trials 
tbat were before them : and what was experienced by the primitive 
disciples as they went forth to their appointed work, was realized in 
the same way by others, who followed them. 

The great apostle to tie Gentiles found in that same word of prom- 
ise the strength he needed for his arduous work. Hence it was that 
he wrote as he did to Timothy, acknowledging, that it was the Lord 
Jesus who had "enabled him to preach the gospel in many places and 
many countries, where he was opposed not only by individual men, 
who hated the ' truth as it is in Jesus,' but also by 'principalities and 
powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world, who were in alli- 
ance with spiritual wickedness in high places.' 

Now, my hearers, the experience of God"s gracious help by tliose^ 
who preached the gospel in the first ages of tlie christian dispensation, 
is in its real nature just what is needed and what is felt by every faith- 
ful minister of Christ at the present day. We, who now preach the 
same gospel, have no power of our own by which we can be sustained 
in the work. Its labors, its trials we cannot endure for a single day 
or a single hour by any resources within ourselves. No ; v.henever 
we have been borne up under these crushing responsibilities, it is be- 
cause the Lord hath enahleit us to bear them. 

Although in this age of the world and especially in a land of relig- 
ious freedom like our own. a christian minister is not called to encoun- 
ter such trials as Paul told the Ephesians and Corinthians, bad been 
appointed to hira, yet 'the offence of the cross is not ceased.' The 
preaching of the pure gospel of Christ and a faithful discharge of ita 
incumbent duties make the office of a minister very laborious and 
self-denying even now, and often constrain him to cry unto his Lord 
and Savior for grace to enable him to be faithful in his work. With- 
out the strength he thus obtains he would often sink under the weights, 
which oppress him. Oh ! my hearers, how powerless is the minister 
of the gospel, who looks not to the Holy Spirit for light to know his 
duty and who leans not on his adorable Savior for strength to per- 
form it. 

The truth of all this any one may see, who v>'ill look at the fear- 
ful respoitsibilitiet'. of those who are employed in this holy work — 
Hear how the Apostle speaks on the subject to the Corinthian believ- 
ers, '' we are unto God," says he " a sweet savor of Christ in them 



that are saved and in them that perish ; to the one "^e ure a savor of 
death unto death ; and to the other a savor of life unto life, and 2L-ho 
is sy gicicnt for lhe.se things T'' You see how deeplj he felt theuf^ed 
of divine help; for he knew, that the life or death of souls was great- 
ly suspended on the manner in which he dispensed the gospel in their 
bearing : and what was true respecting the preaching of the apostles is 
equally true of the ministers of the gospel at the present time. P;ju1 
himself needed the special assisting grace of his Savior in q^qyj daily 
labor he performed as much as in the glorious episiles he wrote to tije 
churches of that age, or in the fearful persecutions he endured: and 
it is well for us. if we, who are, at this age of the world preaching the 
same everlasting gospel, can trust in the enabling strerigdi of Him, who 
hath put us into the same ministry. 

This brings us to the third view of our subject. 

III. The special gratitude, which a minister of Christ owes his 
Savior for sustaining him in this great work during the term o^ jij-y 
y>:ars. 

If any servant of the Lord Jesus has, by the gracious help given 
him, been comparatively faithful in his master's service for so long 
a period, he will be grateful on many accounts. 

1. For being thus spared and continued in such a blessed service. 
Fifty years is much bejond the average length of human life in this 

pare of the world ; and for any one to be allowed to spend so long a pe- 
riod m winning souls to Christ calls for the expression of thankful- 
ness and praise. The average age o^ ministerial life would probably 
be but little more than half of the term we are contemplating. How 
many fall in the conflict short of the period of twenty years ; and 
how many scarcely get the gospel armor on, before they are admon- 
ished, that they are no longer needed in this holy service. 

2. Ministers of the gospel, who are spared so long, ought to be 
grateful for the health and strength given them to nieet the labors 
and trials of their calling. 

We have already had occasion to see how severe and oppressive these 
labors and trials are. Many sink under the weight of them at an 
early period Let any one then, who has had from above the physi- 
cal powers to keep on so many years in his master's service, grate- 
fully remember, that he has not been left to sink under its toils and 
go down to an early grave. 



10 

8. A minister of Christ, whose life is thus lengthened out. ought 
to be thankful for light given him to know what labors his Lord re- 
quires of bira and where those labors are to be performed. 

When a disciple of Jesus, at the proper age, feels a desire to en- 
ter the ministerial work and has in God's providence and by the grace 
of his Spirit the requisite qualifications, his first inquiry will be, 'what 
the Lord would have him to do ? ' And, if at the end of a long mini>- 
try he has good reason to believe, that he has not wandered from the 
path of duty, but, that from tim^ to time, he listened t© his Master's 
voice and actually went to just such parts of the gospel vineyard as 
were appointed unto him for labor, and that he there toiled patiently to 
the end of his laboring days, — he will have occasion, in his old age, to 
render thanks to his gracious Lord for directing his ways and for keep- 
ing him in the right place of service. 

4 A faithful and godly minister, when he comes to the close of a 
lono' service, will have occasion to thank and praise his Savior for the 
grace he has received to keep him under the influence of truly chris- 
t'lan m.ot.wes in his work. 

Who does not know the danger there is from the sinfulness of the human 
heart, that ministers of the gospel, as well as other men, may act un- 
der the influence of motives that will not bear the light of the great 
revealing day ? " The heart is deceitful above all things and despe- 
rately wicked ; who can know it?" said the prophet Jeremiah. 
Every conscientious minister of Christ trembles for himself, when he 
calls to mind bis own liability in this respect. He knows that he ought 
? aim at the divine glory in every part of his work ; and when he 
feels the danger there is, that he may labor even for the conversion of 
sinners and for the prosperity of the church of Christ under the in- 
fluence of low, worldly and selfish motives, he will pray as did the 
Psalmist, saying. ''Search me, God, and know my heart ; try 
me and know my thoughts ; and see if there be any wicked way in me 
and lead me in the way everlasting." Such a man, having been kept 
by the grace of God and having been led constantly to seek his good 
pleasure will, at the close of a long ministry, have occasion to thank 
and praise his Savior for having enabled him so to live and so to labor, 
that he can cherish the hope of having something of " a conscience void 
of ofience toward God and toward man." 

5. I remark once more that such a minister will have occasion to 



11 

thank and praise his Savior, if he has good reason to believe that his 
humble labors have been crowned vfith any degree of swecess in the 
conversion and salvation of souls. 

He never wishes to lose sight of the affecting truth that 'although 
Paul may plant and Apollos water, it is God only who give^ the in- 
crea.«e.' If he has been governed by right motives in so long a minis- 
terial service, he will deeply feel that all the power, which has made it 
effectual, even in a single instance, conies from. God. He may have 
labored faithfully, he may have preached the word earnestlj^ and even 
eloquently ; he may have toiled "in season and out of season." yet he 
knows that all the power, which converts a single sinner or which ad- 
vances a single believer in holiness of life and in preparation for the 
heavenly world, is of God. — that he himself is only an instrument in 
his Savior's hand and that to Him is due all the praise and all the 
glory of any success that has attended his labors. Thus he w^ill grate- 
fully and joyfully adopt the language of the devout .Psalmist, in an 
adapted form, saying. ' Not unto me, Lord, not unto me, but unto 
thy name be all the glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake,' 

And shall not the ministers of Christ Jesus in every age of the 
■world be thankful to Him for '• putting them into the ministry.' how- 
ever arduous and self-denying its labors ? Ought not your own pas- 
tor, my friends, to give thanks to his Lord and Savior, that fifty yeai's 
ago he caused him to be set apart to the same holy service ? 

I have now endeavored to exhibit a brief view of the character and 
services of a faithful minister of Jesus Christ. 'We have looked at the 
object and duties of his office ; we have considered the source to Avhich 
he must look for help in his work ; we have dwelt a little upon the 
reflections he will make at the close of his ministry. 

But in all I have now said you can easily see. my hearers, that I 
have experienced a constant difficulty, lest you should think I was 
aiming at a description of my o\cn cMse^ and that I was striving to 
show that /had so labored in the service of the Lord Jesus, that like 
the apostle I could have some claim to the divine favor. But I shrink 
from such a thought : and yet, if there has been anything in all the 
years of my ministry, which in the least resembles that of the neavenly- 
minded and laborious apostle, I would devoutly attribute it wholly to 
the special grace of Him, who I humbly trust condescended to call me 



12 

into thfi ministerial service at the beginning of the period which we 
fire this day reviewing. 

I confess I have found the Christian ministry an ard^tnvs service ; 
for its duties and labors have had to be performed often when the flesh 
was weak. But, at the same time, it is a service in which, if I do not 
deceive myself, I have had great enjoyment. Often during these years 
have I cherished the animating hope, that the Savior was witii me, 
when I was pleading with ray fellow-sinners to become reconciled to 
God, — and, when, al.-'o, I was exhorting the beloved members of the 
Churches, to v^hich I have ministered, to live such a holy and self- 
denying life as they knew their Savior lived, while he was in the flesh. 
If at such times I ever saw a Christian or a sinner yielding to my 
entreaties, I could not fail to acknowledge that it was the power of 
(jod^ that produced such an eflect ; for often have my most earnest 
pleadings been ineffectnal with both these classes of my hearers, 
simply because a sovereign God did not see fit to accompany what I 
said with the gracious influences of his Spirit. 

You wiil not think it strange, my friends, that, standing as I now 
do at the close of a flfty-years service, I should be much affected with 
the thought that all this labor should have accomplished so little 
toward the salvation of my fellow men. Oh ! bad I. all this time, been 
more earnest in my work, more fully unfolding the glorious provis- 
ions of the gospel for the salvation of those, who have heard me ; had 
I more clearly pointed out to them the consequences of accepting or 
of rejecting Christ Jesus as a Savior, it may be that I should have 
eeen, as a result of it all, greater numbers than I can now look upon 
as the fruits of my labprs. But even then it would all have been of 
God''s Sovtrrlcrn grace, for without the accompanying power of his 
Spirit, the most earnest and the most eloquent minister of Christ will 
always preach in vain. 

Still, I cannot help calling to mind the hundreds and the thous- 
ands, who in all these years have heard me as 'an ambassador of 
Christ,' 'praying them in his stead to become reconciled to God.' 
Some of them are already gone to give up their account ; others are 
still enjoying a day of grace. But all the number I mttst meet in 
the great and final day. Think you not, my hearers, that it will fill 
Kiy soul with rejoicing, if it shall then appear that Iivas instrumental 
of preparing for the world of glory any number of my beloved charge 



13 

here, or of my forn er belove(3 ore in a distant city ? That other 
thought' — the pahiful one — of then meeting any. who should havo 
rc3Jaoi:ed the Savior I preached in, their hearing, — that thought^ 
I say, I would not dwell upon this day. It shall be my prayer to 
the close of my mortal life, that not one of all who have heard the 
gospel message from my lips, shall then be found without a title to a 
place in the Heavenly Kingdom. 

I i\0',v close a consideration of the subject for the morning, asking 
your r};;ayers, my friends, that when it is resumed in the afternoon I 
may be divinely directed and aided in presenting such personal, his- 
torical and statistical incidents respecting the whole fifty years of my 
Diinisir)i^ as by the blessing of God may be profitable to us all and 
esceptable ia the sight of Him, who allows us during all our earthly 
life to enjoy the privileges of a Preached Gospel. Amen. 



AFTERNOON DISCOURSE. 



I Timothy, 1 : 12.— "^nd 1 ihawh <$hvhi ^esue outi tsovfi, who hail\ 
jenabled me, foi| that he counted me faithful, putting me into the minis- 

These words of Paul to Timothy, his younger fellow -laborer in the 
Christian ministry, seem to present a train of thought well adapted 
to the occasion we are noticing this day. The several views of the 
Christian ministry, which engaged our attention in the morning while 
meditating on the text, were as follows : 

I. The object and duties of the Christian Ministry ; 

II. The source, to which a minister of Christ must look for help, 
if he would be found faithful in his work ; 

III. The gratitude he owes his Savior for sustaining him in it. 

In dwelling upon these three views of the subject, I trust, my hear- 
ers, you saw their appropriateness to the occasion. Your Pastor has 
now been spared and continued in the miaisterial service fifty years. 
and you have been expecting that he would more or less publicly take 
some notice of the Anniversary. 

He ought himself to have adoring views of the patience and loving 
kindness of his Heavenly Master in allowing him to be employed in 
such a grateful and responsible service for so long a time. You are 
yourselves aware of the reflections growing out of the occasion, which he 
feels constrained to make. He confesses, that they have been some- 
what personal, — and he could not avoid it. He now appeals to your 
kindness and patience, for he knows, that as he proceeds, you will find 
him still more personal. But bear in mind that, during all these 
fifty years he has been preaching to others : let him then, on this part 
of the day preach particularly to hwnself; even though what he shall 
say be little more than a brief history of God's dealings with him from 
his earliest life to the time of his ordination, and a hasty review of 



15 

that measure of the Divine blessing, vfhich he trusts has attended hi^ 
ministerial services. Possibly such an occupation of your thoughts 
this afternoon may be profitable even to the youth and chiMreu of this 
people, who will long retain in their memories some knowledge of the 
life and services of their aged minister. 

Yes, my friends, bear with him while he shall go back to his child- 
hood and youth, and while he shall see himself subsequently entering 
wpon the arduous labors of the ministry, — thus living over again the 
last fifty years of his life. I know it will be trying to your patience, 
for so vivid to my own mind are the scenes of my life, and especially 
those of my ministry, as I have just been called to review them for the 
present occasion, that / have beeri tedious even to myself : much more 
80, then, must I expect to be tedious to my hearers^ who cannot dwell 
upon the incidents of another's life as they can upon those of their own. 

This Fiftieth anniversary, you see, is attended with no public 
demonstration. I am glad it is so ; I have chosen this holy, quiet 
Sabbath for its observance and not the Wednesday of last week, which 
was the exact time. It is far from my design during this hour to 
dwell upon the history, even the relis^i.oas history, of the world or of 
our own country during the past fifty years. I shall confine myself 
to what is local and personal in this and in my former field of labor. 

Your pastor, my friends, feels himself //ere at home^ — among his 
own beloved people^ — hardly aware that he has any hearers, who do 
not belong to the number of his pastoral charge. He prays and 
trusts that he shall utter nothing unworthy of the house of God, or 
in any way disp iraging to the Christian Ministry, while he may 
dwell particularly on the dealings of. his Heavenly Father with him- 
self. 

I would, therefore, proceed to say that I was born 78 years ago, ' 
on the 24th day of last November. My parents were professors of 
the religion of the gospel, and of our Congregational order. They 
attached the highest importance to that 'Everlasting Covenant of 
promise, which God made with Abraham, to be a covenant with him 
and his seed forever,' — and, believing, as they might well do, that, 
under the Christian Dispensation, Baptism takes the place of Cir- 
cumcision as a seal of the Covenant, they devoted their infant 
children to God, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, by giving them 



16 

up to birn in this sacred ordin^ince. Such tj-ah thsir dealing with 
mijselj—my honored father carrying me, when I was only two days 
old, the distance of nearly three miles, in cold November, and giv- 
ing rae up to God in Baptism, administered by Ee.v. Benjamin Wads- 
worth, my native Pastor ; and to the end of my mortal days would 
I he grateful for that parental, believing service. What influence it 
had on my subsequent life or what connection it may have with my 
final salvation. Eternity alone will disclose. Of this I am sure — it 
operated powerfully on my pare/its, inducing them to train me up 
accoiding to the gracious provisions of that holy covenant, in which 
they had thus consecrated me to God. It had also an influence on 
muse/f, for I cautd not forget that I had been devoted to my Miker, 
and that I must not break his covenant, whose seal had been placed 
Upon me. 

These remarks on Infant Baptism I am induced to offer for the 
encouragement of believing parents in this church, to make an Ciirly 
corisecraiiun of their children to God in the holy ordinance of Bap- 
tism. Indeed. I have been pained to observe what a growing remiss- 
ne.-s theie has been of late years in our churches to avail themselves 
of the extensive privileges of God's gracious covenant with believers 
and their children. 

In all the early religious instruction, which I received from my 
parents, God's word was of supreme authority ; and next to that 
came the Assambly's Catechism, whose truths with constant prayer 
were inculcated on my youthful mind. These Christian dealings of 
my parents with me made a strong and lasting impression on my 
youthful mind. They led me to study my Bible and to pray to my 
Heavenly Father ; yet it was many years before I felt that I had 
boiDdd at the Cross of Christ and given 'my heart to God. When, 
at last, under the faithful ministry of my beloved Pastor, the late 
Rev. Dr. Worcester of Salem, where I then resided. I came to cher- 
ish a humble hope that this first duty wiisdone, 1 made a jjublic pro- 
fession of Christ, and united with the church in Danvers, my native 
town. 

I was then pursuing a course of study preparatory to practice in 
the Legal Profession. But when, in the year 1812. I saw our firtt 
American Missionaries ordained for the gospel ministry, consecratiiig 
themselves to the great and self-denying work of preaching the gos- 



IT 

pel ministrj, consecrating tbeniselves to the great and self denying 
work of preaching the Gospel of Christ in Heathen Lands, my atten- 
tion was powerfully arrested: and the question pressed itself on my 
conscience, why I should not spend vnj life in preachiiig the sume 
Gospel to my sinful fellow men wherever God should ap[)oint? After 
mature and prayerful consideration of the subject and in accordance 
with the counsel of Christian men, whom I respected. I came to the 
joyful conclusion, that such was my duty, and cheerfully and gladly 
did I leave all my hopes and prospects in that other honoiable pro- 
fession of life, for which I had spent years of time and incurred much 
expense. — ihat I might then prepare tor the work of the holy ministry. 
After completing a course of Theological study at the seminary in 
Andover, under those venerable men, Piofessors Porter. Woods and 
Stuart, I was, in June, 181-4. licensed to preach the Gospel of Je- 
sus Christ. My first labors were at Gloucester, where our beloved 
brother Thacher is now laboring. After spending a few weeks there, 
I went by invitation to Portsmouth, N. H., and preached four Sab- 
baths, and then received a call from the First Church and Society in 
that place to settle with them in the the Christian ministry. 

There, my friends, followed the greatest struggle 'of my life, for it 
was difficult to know the path of duty. The church there wis small, 
yet unanimous and urgent in their invitation for me to settle with 
them. But the parish was in a divided state, — one portion friendly 
to Evangelical preaching, the other, diHd, o. powerful one^ firmly and 
intelligently opposed to it. 

The truth is, — the great crisis for Christian Doctrine in the Con- 
gregational Churches of New England had then come. Some of you, 
my hearers, (iho' the number is small) can recollect ichat tJiai crisis 
ivcis. For a long time previous to 1815 there had been in our 
churches a gradual and imperceptible falling away from those doc- 
trines of faith, which had been held and inculcated by all the Primi- 
tive Fathers in the ministry. I refer here to such doctrines as a 
Trinity of persons in the GoTlhead : the Entire Xative Sinfulness of 
the human heart; Regeneration by the Holy Spirit : Election by tiie 
sovereign purpose of God : Justification by the righteousne&s of Christ ; 
and other doctrines intimately connected with these. The new views 
of Christian doctrine which began to prevail in our New England 

3 



18 

CoDgregational Churches, fifty years ago, were not then called Unita- 
rianhm,^ but Liberal Christianiiy. This change was realized in 
P<>rU<moiith. Much of it was felt in the First Parish there, and it 
was the occasion of the dissent in giving me a united call to settle 
with them in November, 1814. I saw the nature of ihe ojjpositio)i ; 
and a view of it was very dishefirtening. Still, I finally yielded to 
tliC counsel of the Fathers of that day and gave an affirmative answer- 
to the call. But when the day appointed for my ordination came, 
March 15th, 1815, and the council had convened, a remonstrance 
against my settlement was presented to that l>ody, signed by a larger 
number of parishioners than ever voted for me. The committee of the 
remonstrants argued powerfully and eloquently through much of the 
day against the ordination of the candidate, though they treated him 
personally with entire respect. The ground of their argument was 
the difference of doctrinal belief between the candidate and what they 
alleged to be a majority of the parish. 

The question then arose in the council, what should be done ? They 
perceived that at a legal meeting of the parish a regular call had been 
given to the candidate. They knew the history of that church and 
people, during the three years that followed the death of their last 
minister, Rev. Dr. Buckminister, who, for more than thirty years had 
been a preacher of strictly Evangelical doctrine, and believing that 
there was no hope of more union in the parish, the council decided, 
with the consent of the candidate, to proceed to his ordination, so that 
an experiment might be made on the question, whether God would 
not yet bless that ministration ot his truth, which had been so faithful- 
ly addressed to that church and people by all the preceding minis- 
ters, who had been over them ia the Gospel. 

You see, my friends, the trying position in which I was placed. I 
was then a young man and with no experience in the Christian min- 
istry. You will not wonder that I trembled at the thought of begin- 
nino- that arduous work with such a fearful opposition. But I yield- 
ed to the advice of the Council which contained such wise and venera- 
ble men as Rev. Drs. Wads worth, Spring, Porter, Dana and Worces- 
ter • and in doing this I was yielding also to the earnest wishes of the 
church and a fair proportion of the parish. The ordination services 
commenced at so late un hour of the day, that lights had to be brought 



19 

in to close them in the evening. The Rev. Dr. Porter preacher] the 
sermon from those words of Paul, where, in view of the greatness of 
the ministerial work, he exclaimed, "And who is sufficient for these 
"things ?" Many encouraging words did the preacher utter for the 
candidate. But when the hands of those Fathers in the ministry 
came to be placed on my unworthy head, staling me with consecrat- 
ing prayer to the arduous work of the ministry in such trying circum- 
stances, you will not wonder that I was almost overwhelmed under a 
sense of such solemn responsibilities ; and yet I thought I could hum- 
bly trust with the apostle, in th3 spirit of my text this day, that Christ 
Jesus, our Lord, would enable me to meet all the labors, cares and 
trials which were before me. 

I would only add here, that, while some of the remonstrants against 
my ordination at once withdrew from the parish, yet ethers remained 
and heard me respectfully and kindly, some of this number afterwards 
becoming hopeful subjects of grace-and uniting with the church. 

You know, my friends, that the time of my ministry in Portsmouth 
was just twenty years. I will here briefly relate the principal inci- 
denis of that portion of my ministerial life. 

After my settlement I found myself at once sustained by the kind 
attentions, earnest prayers and co- operating services of the church, 
which contained such devotit christian men as the late Gov. Langdon, 
Deacons Tappan and Harris, and others of a like devoted spirit. Nor 
were there wanting many "Women to labor with me in the GospeF' ; 
women of prayer and devout life, whose memories are precious, nearly 
all of them having already "died in the Lord." 

In my pastoral intercourse with the people I early discovered a se- 
rious mind in a small number of the congregation. This led me to 
establish a weekly Inquiry Meeting at the parsonage house, which I 
sustained and regularly attended eighteen out of the twenty years of 
my ministry there. At that meeting, even wI;on we had no revival, 
I had opportunity to converse freely on personal religion with a small- 
er or greater number of inquirers ; and here I might remark, that a 
very large proportion of the 301 who entered the church, during my 
ministry in Portsmouth, went in through that Inquiry Meeting 0: h- 
er weekly and monthly meetings, and a quarterly one for the chu- h, 
were also sustained. Our sacramental communion was monthly id 



20 

t?as cilways preceded by a Preparatory Lecture in the meeting house. 
One way of instructing the children and youth in divine things during 
my ministry was by nieotmg them monthly for learning and repeating 
the Assembly's Catechism ; and this, I think, was instrumental of 
imparting to their minds just views of Christian Truth. 

A Sabbath School was established and continued in the Parish soon 
after that religious enterprise was begun in this country. I would 
here say also that I think I was much sustained in my labors by Fe- 
male Player Meetings and the Maternal Association which were at 
tended by sisters of the church. 

I have one remark to make here, which applies to all the religious 
meetings and christian efforts of the church under my ministry in 
Portsmouth. It is this : The people there lived near the Parsonage 
house, the Vestry and the Meeting House, — so that they could easily 
give their attendance. I found it different when I came here, where 
most of the families are living far from the Parsonage and the center 
of the Parish, which renders it difficult for them to convene for chris- 
tian privileges and for mutual encouragement in the service of God. 

During the first twelve years of my ministry in Portsmouth, there 
were constant hopeful conversions and additions to the church, — upon 
an average of eight or nine members annually. 

In 1826 it pleased a sovereign God to pour out his Spirit gloriously 
upon the people of my charge, and we had a season of Revival, which 
continued for more than fifteen months, and which brought more than 
seventy into the church. Those were days and months never to be 
forgotten by the pastor and his people. At one of our Inquiring Meet- 
ings at the Parsonage house there were present the number of 135 in 
the fivo largest rooms, while in dncther and at the same hour the 
church were holding their weekly meeting of Prayer that God would 
continue the convicting and converting influences of his Spirit. Ah ■ 
my friends, the church were awake then. They had dear friends in 
the Inquiring Kooms whose minds were full of agony, asking what 
they should do to be saved ? and christians were then willing to pray and 
labor that souls might be saved and not lost. When the Parsonage 
house became incapable of holding the Inquirers and the church, we 
removed both meetings to a Public Building that had two very large 
rooms, one for the Inquirers and one for the Church. There our meet- 



21 

ings were continued weekly till the Kevival came to a close. There 
the neighboring ministers would come and help me. There my be- 
loved brother. Rev. Jonathan French, who preached my InPtallation 
sermon here thirty years ago, would come eight miles and work two 
or three hours in our evening meetinors and then go home at a late 
hour of the night : I love to think of him now in the Heavenly World, 
rejoicing over all the sacrifices he tlien made for the salvation of souls 
and for the glory of that Savior, whom he lived to love and serve till 
he was near the close of his four score years. 

,, This Revival put a new aspect upon our church and congregation. 
Our Sabbaths, especially communion occasions, were seasons of deep 
spiritual interest,'and of high chri>tian enjoyment. So much was our 
number increased in the church and in the congregation, that, by the 
advice of ministers and other christian friends, we undertook the great 
work of setting off an important part of our members for what was 
called a Colony church. A fine house of worship for them was builf 
and paid for. But a mistake was committed in placing the Colony in 
an unfavorable part of the city and not where the population was in- 
creasing ; so that, after a few years of unsuccessful effort, the enter- 
prise had to be abandoned for the reunion of the Colony church, with 
the Old one ; and it was to facilitate that object, that I was led to be- 
lieve it was my duty to resign my pastoral charge. At my request a 
Council was called for that object. But so strongly did the Church 
and the people remonstrate against it, that the Council decided I ought 
to remain ; and I proceeded in my ministerial labors with them another 
year. But I then became more fully convinced of the desirableness 
of the reunion of the churches. Accordingly, upon consultation 
with the pastor of the Colony church we both resolved on giving up 
our respective charges ; and our request for that purpose was made to 
our several congregations on the same day. The result was the de- 
sired Reunion, — a result which God has smiled upon, as is apparent 
from the subsequent prosperity of the beloved old church,- of which I 
was pastor. 

I ought in this connection to have stated that during the last two 
jears of my pastorate in Portsmouth the Lord blessed us with another 
Revival of his work, which brought the number of nearly thirty into 
the church. 

Thus, my hearers, you see how it was that I left my first minis- 



22 

terial charge. The labors of my ministry there were arduous but' 
delightful ; for I had a humble assurance, that a divine blessing was 
attending them ; and I would bear record now and forever, that it 
was because 'Christ Jesus our Lord enabled me.' that I was sus- 
tained under the toils of those twenty years. 

After I was by an Ecclesiastical Council regularly dismissed froni 
the Portsmouth church, I retained my home in that beloved place for 
the succeeding seven months, supplying my old pulpit most of the 
time by exchanges with the neighboring ministers, — but always with 
the question pressing itself on my mind, whether the Lord had any^ 
further service for me to perform, as a stated jjastor, in some other 
part of the gospel vineyard ? and it was, I trust, in answer to my 
own prayers and the prayers of my christian friends, that I was di- 
rected to this place now almost thirty years ago. 

The circumstances of my coming here, were peculiarly Providen- 
tial. I knew nothing of Middleborough, and this people knew noth- 
ing of me previously to that time. But it was God's purpose, as we 
now see, that I should spend a large part of my ministerial life here ; 
and under his control were all the means, by which it was to be accom- 
plished. ])o you not love to trace the hand of God, my hearers, in all 
the changes and even in all the circumstances of your mortal life ? 
Such an employment, I can assure you, has long been a source of en- 
joyment to my own mind. 

Let me say then, that my name was first mentioned to the commit- 
tee for supplying this pulpit by a person then residing in this neigh- 
borhood, and whom I had found as a young female member of the 
^Portsmouth church twenty years before. In compliance with an in- 
vitation from that committee I came here on Saturday, 22d of Au- 
gust, 1835, having traveled in my own private conveyance 100 miles 
from home. Weary indeed I was by my long journey, but I met a kind 
reception at the house of the late Hon. Judge Wood, chairman or the 
committee, who directed me to this pleasant Green for accommodations 
during my stay in the place. The twilight hour of that Saturday 
evening I spent in looking at the scenes around me ; and most impos- 
ing of all -was the sight of this noble Sanctuary, which had then 
recently been built for God's holy service. I now well recollect, 
that, befoie I gave myself to the slumbers of that night, I sat down 
and made a memorandum in the following words : "Now, my God'j 



23 

fvook down upon me, whom thou has brought as ' a stranger to a strange 
phice.' I seem to hear thee saying to me " what doest thou here? " 
and mj reply to thee is, — 'Lord, I hope I came in obedience to thy 
will. I desire to do my duty aud leave all the consequences with 
thee. Eternity will show what those consequences are. " 

It was under the influence of thoughts and feelings like these that 
I came into this House on my first Sabbath. You can hardly imag- 
ine, my hearers, the sensation of my mind, when I first gazed upon the 
large assembly, which I saw before me ; for aUhough T had, on my 
way hither, heard something of the troubles, through which* this peo- 
ple had recently passed by reason of division, respecting their former 
pastor, yet I came cherishing the highest respect for tlyair christian 
and social character. The trial was great for me to come in at just 
such a crisis to preach the gospel of Christ and to be as it were, a 
messenger of Peace. But I was sustained by the thought, that He 
whom I hoped I had hitherto served, had led me to this place. My 
Discourse on the morning of that day was on "The Christian Race," 
and in the afternoon on "The worth of the soul." I had a large, at- 
tentive and serious audience. Ah ! my friends, — how few of those, who 
heard me on that Sabbath thirty years ago, are my hearers this day ! 
On the Monday which followed I received many kind calls and in- 
vitations from the people and spent the week among them, and thus 
It was, that I went on preaching a 2nd, 8rd. 4th and 5th Sabbaths, 
spending the intervening days in social and religious intercourse among 
the families in their many difierent and distant neighborhoods. 

Soon after I left this place I received, as sonae of you yet living know , 
a cordial invitation from the Church and Parish to settle over them in 
the ministerial work. Many letters have I now on my files from 
distinguished me.n in the church and congregation kindly urging me to 
give an affirmative answer. Such an answer, after prayerful consid- 
eration of the subject, I did give. The day of my Installation waa 
agreed upon, and the 28th of the following October witnessed the as- 
sembling of the large Council, which consecrated me anew to the min- 
isterial work and placed me over this beloved people as their Pastor 
and Teacher. 

Can you realize it, my hearers, that it is almost thirty years since 
that solemn transaction ? How many, who witnessed it are gone from 



24 

the scenes of time ! How many of the Fatlurs of that Council have 
passed away, changing their connection with the Church Militant 
for the more glorious one with the Church Triumphant ! Of the rnin- 
istei's now deceased, who were on that Council, tlie following names 
rush upon my memory, viz., Cobb, French, Codman, Dexter. Colby, 
Bigelow and tSmalley ; an equal number, no doubt, of the Brethren, 
who were Delegates in that Council, have made the same glorious 
change. Oh ! let it be the great object of m/r life to prepare for join- 
ing them in the bliss and service of the Heavenly Kingdom. 

When the transactions of the Installing Council were over and 
there bad been a departure of the Ministers and Delegates and other 
friends, we all of us here found ourselves placed in new relations to 
one another. I had become pastor of the ancient church, which was 
formed here in 1694, 0. S., after twenty years of Home Missionary 
labor performed by that devoted man, Rev. Samuel Fuller. — who 
was then ordained as its first pastor, and only six months before he 
died. He was succeeded by six other pastors, among whose names 
those of Thatcher, Conant and Barker are familiar to you. 

I felt, therefore, that I must lose no time in beginning my great 
work. But my beloved family were not then with me here, and I 
saw that my first duty was to accomplish their removal. This under- 
taking called forth the first kind and generous impulse of the people's 
heart toward their new minister ; and with their seasonable and effi- 
cient aid, the' whole family were soon removed and comfortably placed 
in the Parsonage house. 

The next thing for me to do was to look at the field of labor which 
was before me. 

In this service I was kindly and efficiently aided by members of 
the church and friends in the Parish. 

I knew that while preaching the gospel must be my main work, 
I must also be a pastor of the people. I therefore sought to know 
the extent of the territory which they occupied ; nor was I discour- 
aged, though I confess I was often surprised to learn how large it 
was. The Meeting House stood here, as it does now on the old, Cen- 
tral, Pilgrim ground. But most of the families were dwelling far 
away in different directions. This was a trying, but not discouraging 
consideration to the pastor, who was then in the vigorous part of his 



25 

life. No, my friends; the call to go three, or four, or five miles to 
visit the sick, or to attend an evening religious meeting, or to conduct 
the servi<^es at a funeral or to make common pastoral visits, was little 
of a trial to me then. I loved to breathe the free countrj air, after 
having been confined twenty years to a city life. But I acknowledge, 
that such distant labors have been more trying in my advancing years, 
— a consideration, which has had much weight with me in thinking^ 
that my ministry here ought ere long to come to a close. 

But, in 1835. when I came here, and in the ten or twenty years 
which followed, I scarcely thought that my field of labor was large or 
arduous. So I hope it will seem to the ministerial brother, who ehail 
follow me — especially at the commencement of his labors. And here 
arises a humbling and yet a comforting thought for me to dwell upon : 
"He must increase but I must decrease/' 

But, to go back to the beginnmg of my ministry here, — as I have 
already, said — while I felt that th^ preaching of ifte gospel in publio 
and in private was the great work of a christian minister, I yet con- 
sidered it my duty to encourage and sustain in my new pastorate, (so 
far as practicable) those different kinds of religious meetings for prayer, 
for mutual christian improvement, and for instructing the young, 
which I adopted at the commencement of my ministry in Portsmouth. 
But I soon found that I could not pursue the same course, — and par- 
ticularly, that I must abandon my attempt to instruct the young from 
the Assembly's Catechism. I had to do this on account of the distant 
location of the families, from which the youth must come. On the 
same account also I have found it difficult to have central religioua 
meetings, as was the case at Portsmouth, where the people lived near 
together. One exception, however, should be noticed,— that of the 
Sabbath School where our youth here are on that holy day regularly 
gathered in the House of God from all parts of the Parish. 

But to preach the gospel in public and in private I still found to 
be a great work and one that required constant preparation ; for, what 
Paul said to Timothy on another occasion is seasonable to every min- 
ister now. "Till 1 come, said the apostle, give thy attendance to 
reading, to meditation and to doctrine." Hence I felt it my duty to 
study the Holy Word, that I might Jearn what messages I should, 
from time to time, bring thence to the hearing of my people. 

4 



26 

I trust that none of you, my hearers, who have been under my 
ministry any considerable time, are ignorant of my views of the fun- 
damental doctrines of the Christian Religion. They are the same they 
were when I began to preach fifty years ago. They are called Evaji- 
gdlcal or Calvatdstir. I have already spoken of them particularly 
in the early part of this discourse. I think they are all briefly em- 
braced under these two general viev/s of christian truth, viz. The 
regeneration and sanctification of the smful heart of man by the pow- 
er of the Holy Spirit and the atonement for sin through the death of 
Christ to be received by a penitent and believing nind. Such has 
been the substance of my doctrinal preaching all the thirty years of 
my ministry here as well as the twenty of my first pastorate. 

As to my views and teachings and services respecting experimental 
and practical Religion, I would say, that I have endeavored to sym- 
pathize with real christians in the various exercises of their minds, 
respecting the great conflict they have with sin and Satan, while by 
the Spirit of God the work of Sanctification is advancing in their 
hearts. I have at the same time inculcated on them and on every 
class of my people the duty of living a blameless and holy life. 

I have preached to sinners, who have never given their hearts to 
God and embraced the free oifers of salvation, the duty of immediate 
repentance and immediate faith in Christ Jesus as the only Savior. 

At the same time, I think, you will all bear me witness, that I 
have taught you, that no exhibition of divine truth, nor any belief of 
it will ever convert a sinner. Hence I have argued the duty of chris- 
tians to pray for the Spirit to accompany the means of grace and also 
to pray specially and particularly for what is called a Revival of Re- 
ligion. Not that sinners 7nay not be converted and often are con- 
verted hj the Spirit of God where there is no Revival ; but inasmuch 
as there are in all our Congregations great numbers of unconverted 
persons, who are in danger of dying in their sins, it is the duty of 
christians to pray earnestly, perseveringly and with faith for the out 
pouring of the Spirit and for our thus realizing all the gracious and 
o-lorious effects of a Revival of that Religion^ which is pure and un- 
defiled, 

You' know, my friends, that such reviving seasons God has gra- 
ciously and repeatedly given us during these thirty years. The first 



27 

irisitiation of this mercifal kind was in the year 1840, when 23 were 
gathered into the church, as its fruits ; the seco/id was in 1841, — 
whose fruits were 26 ; the third in 1853, — additions to the church, 
14; the 4th in 1858, and 16 realized as its fruits; the 5th and last 
in 1863, when 9 canae forward and professed their Savior's name. 
None of these reviving times were of such power as is sooietimes real- 
ized, where a 50, or 75, or 100 converts are counted. But all these 
seasons with us have been refreshing to our hearts and have taught 
us what gifts of grace God has to bestow in ansiver to prayer. 

I think the revival of 1840, was the one that most deeply affected 
the churcli ? id the people. I remember well, that some of our after- 
noon meetings, one in this House for prayer and another at the vestry 
for enquirers held at the same time^ — were largely attended. Even 
in the busy season of the summer, some of our people would leave their 
hay-fields to be present in the one place for prayer or in the other 
for inquiring "what they must do to be saved ?" 

But when the Holy Spirit withholds his gracious influences how 
different — how lifeless our condition ! Bo you not remember, those 
cold and barren years of 1847, '48 and '49, when not a single one of all 
our people came forward to tell 'what the Lord had done for his soul?' 
and also a like withholding of the Spirit's influence in some other 
years, when scarcely any one was asking with deep concern 'what he 
must do to be saved ? ' Ah ! my christian friends, who of us were 
guilty of grieving the Spirit of our God in those years ? your pastor, 
or yourselves, or all of us together ? Deep humiliation becomes us 
for such coldness and barrenness ! May all the future years of this 
cuurch be years of christian faith and labor and prayer, — so that 
the Father, Son and Holy Ghost may be glorified in the salvation of 
all this beloved people. 

Witti regard to church niemhership during my ministry here, I 
would say that, as nearly as I can ascertain, the number at the time 
of my settlement was 208, that number annually increased till in 1842 
it was 262. There was then a gradual decrease till in 1847 the num- 
ber was 244. That was the year when the Central church was formed, 
and for which important enterprise we felt providentially called upon 
to give up a large number of our christian brethren and sisters. This 
brought our number down to 200. 



28 

We felt that the formation of the New Church was loudlj called 
ftjr. The Central village was rapidly increasing in population and 
general prosperity : and church members and tamilies of the Congre- 
gational order couid not be expected to continue their attendance here. 
On this account we cheerfully met the self denying duty of parting 
with thof»9 we loved, — brethren and sisters in the Lord, and families. 
*with whom we had taken sweet council and with whom we bad long 
walked to the House of God.' All this we did though we plainly fore- 
saw, that it would temporarily at least decrease our own number and 
our own strength : for as the villao^e should grow it would operate as 
a draft on the population of the Old Parish. This has been realized. 
But, what we have lost they have gained. So let it be ; for God is 
&till the owner of us ail. It is good to be in his hand and entirely at 
his disposal. 

God has smiled upon this enterprise of the establishment of a church 
of our order in that place. They have been blessed with a succession 
of faithful ministers of Christ Jesus our Lord. Their numbsr of church 
members and of attendants on public worship has been constantly in- 
creasing ; and we trust that our Savior Aa.<? been and will he honored 
by thepreachingof his blessed gospel to the increasing population of that 
village. I would also here add, that it is a source of christian enjoy- 
ment to us to learn from lime to time that our Congregational church 
there is living in christian harmony with the other church near them 
and of a different denomination. 

Although the present number of our church members and of the 
families of our people is smaller than it was several years ago, I 
think, my friends, we need not view this as, on the whole, a discouraging 
consideration. For while as I have just said, the growth of the Cen- 
tral village does and will attract some from our own territory, there 
is yet remaining within its limits a population numerous enough and 
powerful enough to till this large House of God to overflowing. Only 
let the members of our church awake to that measure of prayer and 
self-denial and zeal, which their vows and the Savior's honor call for.— 
and the Holy Spirit would arouse the hundreds of families within our 
limits, so that they would come forth to the worship and service of 
God, not only filling this Holy Temple with humble and devout hearers. 
but also giving a strength to the Congregation, to the church, to the 



29 

ministry and to the cause of the Savior hitherto unknown. Such a 
time, I trust will come, — especially under the ministry of those, who 
shall follow him. whose time of service here will soon expire. Why. — 
my hearers, there is a considerable number of families within the large 
territory of this Parish, that attend the public worship of God nov^kert, 
and some families there are, now represented by a single individual 
only, in this House of God. While these facts read to us all a lesson 
on the duty of laboring to bring into the fold of Christ all such \van- 
dering sheep, I think they show us also the resources there are here 
for filling up the places of those, who in late years have found it more 
convenient to worship by themselves, while they remain of our own 
Denomination and on the terms of christian brotherhood with us. 

In coming now to a more statistical view of the fifty years of my 
ministry I teel more and more the difficulties of its having been "^hro- 
ken ministry ; i. e. of my having labored twenty years in one place 
and thirty in another. In speaking of the character of my preachlnsr 
and of my pastoral labors as I have already done, this difficulty has 
been experienced but little ; for my preaching and my other services 
have been substantially the same in both places. But it is different 
in what I have now to say of the local occurences and practical results 
of ray whole ministry. I have not the means of being so particular 
in this respect concerning my first pastorate as concerning my present 
one. But I will give you, my hearers, as full a statement as practi- 
cable respecting each of them. And yet I wish it to be considered 
that I dwelt largely on these things in my Farewell Discourse at Poits- 
mouth and in my Century, and Half, and Quarter Century Discours- 
here. 

I will first notice the Subject of Admissions to the two churches 
under my ministry. The number admitted while I was in Portsmouth, 
was 301. making an annual number of about 15. The number ad- 
mitted here is 204, —an annual average of 7. The total admissions 
during my whole ministry is 505. 

In connection with admissions to the church it is natural to look at 
Removals. In this respect I can speak only of our church here. The 
number of deaths with us has been 135 : The number oi dismissions 
to other churches including the 35 we gave up to establish the colony 
church is 57, making the whole number oi removals 191. Our church 



/ 80 

A ^ 
li€re was organised Dec. 28. 1794, 0. S. 170 years ago: and the 

whole number ever admitted is 1136. The present number is 155. 

I will take occasion here to remark on one work, which has been 
accomplished during my ministry and which, I think, will be of last- 
ing service to the church and the cause of religion here : I refer to the 
Church Book, which was prepared and published some years since by 
a Committee of the church, on which I was appointed with brothers 
Zechariah Eddy and Alfred Wood. Brother Eddy wrote a long and 
interesting history of the church, and brother Wood devoted much 
time and labor on a valuable biographical catalogue of the members : 
and here I would add, that, at the request of the church, I have dur- 
ing all my ministry acted as their scribe and shall leave a Book of 
Records for thirty years, which I trust will be useful to the future gen- 
erations of the church and the people of the Parish. 

The number of Baptisms, which I administered in Portsmouth is 
322 ; the number here 158 ; total 480. 

I officiated at 413 fu?ierals in Portsmouth and at 859 since I have 
been in Middleboro. The whole number of Funerals of my fellow 
mortals at which I have officiated is 1272. The actual number of fu- 
nerals here among my own people is only 736, which shows, that I 
have attended 123 funerals in families not belonging to the Parish. 

The number of Marriages at which I have officiated is as follows, — 
183 in Portsmouth, and 414 here ; 597 in all. 

Our church here with their pastor have during my ministry atterid- 
90 Ecclesiastical Councils. This number will seem large, but no 
doubt our Church have often been invited upon such Councils on ac- 
count of the knowledge and experience of our late Brother, Zechariah 
Eddy, and of the advice which he was able to give on such occasions. 
He was therefore often appointed as our Delegate. 

On the occasions of Ordination and Installation, I have several times 
been requested to preach the Discourse. I have performed the same 
service repeatedly at Dedications. 

In my ministerial intercourse with other Denominations, I am happy 
in being able to say, that I have been on Fraternal terms with such 
of them as are considered Evangelical. I have freely exchanged pul- 
pit services with our Baptist and Methodist Brethren ; and Episcopal 
Brethren have often preached in mj pulpit. 



81 

I have also had great christian enjoyment and improvemerit at the 
free social and religious meetings of our Ministerial Associations and 
Conferences of Churches. 

Obligations of an interesting character am I under, to the people 
of my charge here, tor their repeated contributions to make me a 
Life Member of some of the great Charitable and Religious Societies 
of the Country. A like expression of ministerial regard was shown 
me by the people of my first Pastorate, who gave me a Life Member- 
ship in ten of these Societies. 

In one important respect my ministry here resembles the one at 
Portsmouth. It has been a peaceful ministry in both places ; no 
strifes nor divisions either here or there. I have sometimes attrib- 
uted the lengthening out of my unworthy life to the enjoyment of 
that peace, which I have always had in the churches and in the Par- 
ishes, with which I have spent these fifty years. I am a lover of 
peace myself : I have long been a member of the American Peace So- 
ciety. My business has been all this time to preach "the Gospel of 
peace ; " and I humbly hope I know something of the peace there is 
in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

I would here say with regard to pastoral visitation among the fam- 
ilies of my two respective charges, that it has been my design to call 
upon them all once a year, though I may sometimes have failed of do- 
ing so. But when they have been in any kind of affliction my visits 
have been correspondently frequent. Have you ever reflected, my 
hearers, how many pastopl visits one would make in fifty years on 
the supposition, that it should be only a single one every day ? The 
number is surprisingly great, being over 18,000 : — and probably there 
are few ministers, who do not visit far more frequently than this. 

Let me ask you in this connection, my friends, to reflect a little 
how often in thirty years you could have heard the gospel preached 
in this House by your pastor or by some one, with whom he may 
have exchanged Sabbath labors ? Here again the result will probably 
surprise you ; for in thirty years there are over 1500 Sabbaths. This 
ordinarily gives a congregation an opportunity of hearing some views 
of the glorious gospel more than 3000 times in the period I have 
named. This view of the subject is deeply affecting, if not equally 
80, to a minister and his people. It shows us how solemn is the ac- 



82 

count we shall all have to give of our labors or of our privileges : and 
I think there is one view of the subject, which is calculated deeply 
to affect us all, — pastor and people ; this is the patience and forbear- 
ance of God towards us in view of our failure of preaching as we ought 
or of hearing as w^e ought. 

You see, mj friends, how difficult it is for me to arrange and pre- 
sent all the various local topics, which offer themselves for considera- 
tion on this Anniveisarj. As I have already said, it would be com- 
paratively easy for me to speak to you this day had I been settled 
here in March 15. 1815 and continued as your pastor till this time. 

Let me now remark upon the temporal support, which as a pastor 
I have had from the two parishes respectively during my labors among 
them ; and I nm happy to say. that they have met their engagements 
witli a good degree of punctuality, — so that I have received from them 
all that has been necessary for my personal and my family expenses. 
Beside the income from my stated salary, I have received in my first 
twenty and in my last thirty years, numerous expressions of generosi- 
ty from individuals, which have laid me under lasting and grateful 
obligations. My family also have had liberal Donation Visits : in a 
word our w^ants have been well supplied. 

Nor would I forget here to say, that both in Portsmouth and in 
Middleborough we have had delightful Parsonage Houses to dwell in, 
which our people have kept in comfortable order Irom year to year, 
verily may we say that, in these respects our cup of earthly enjoy- 
ment has been "running over." Not but what we have had our share 
of the common afflictions of life, — seasons of sickness, times of bereave- 
ment and other trials incident to our mortal state ; but, after all, we 
can join with our people, saying, in the language of the Holy word, 
*'The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all His 
works." 

The remarks which I have just made respecting the attention, which 
my people have paid to the parsonage ought to be extended to our Be- 
loved Sanctuary here. These seasonable attentions to the House of 
God your Pastor and all who revere the worship of the everlasting 
.Jehovah, will duly appreciate in future days and future years. This 
Temple of the Lord has always been the admiration of strangers when 
they have passed it. Such, my friends, let it be for generations to 



33 

come. Keep your eyes upon its internal and external appearances. 
Look upon all its siiirovadings. Let there be no marks of decay, 
no signs of inattention to these earthly things, for they all point up to 
that glorious Temple on high, where the Lord God forever dwells and 
where your Pastor prays and has long prayed, that you may all have 
a dwellmg place throughout Eternal Ages. 

Let me here make one suggestion respecting a greater facility for 
the future pastors in conducting their various ridigious services : It 
relates to the building of what may be called a Conference Uoom con- 
nected with this House of God. Such a Room is now not uncommon in 
our churches and needed no where more than with us here. I would 
not now dwell particularly upon it any further than to pay that while 
I have for years felt the need of such a help in my ministry here, I 
have made and preserved a memorandum of moie than twelve special 
uses by which it might promote the spiritual welfare of this church 
and people. At some future time I may say more on this subject. 

But, my beloved fi lends, I am admonished that I must soon close. 
I feel that I have already seriously taxed your patience. 

But you see we have had to go over a great deal of ground. It is 
not a short or an easy woik to leview a fifty years of Mortal Life ; 
much less so, if those years have been spent in so responsible a service 
as that of a christian minister. No one of us can, with all our intel- 
lectual powers or even with the added help of christian faith, reach the 
)emote and everlasting consequences of preaching the word ( f God 
(.'i-e}i for a single tuiw. Oh ! then, Avho can tell what those conse- 
([uences may be. which results from a twenty, or thirty, or fifty years 
of such service ! 

Let me nov/ tender to you all my sincere thanks for the patience, 
with which you have heard me on this day and in any part of the 
thirty years, during wliich I have preached the everlasting gospel in 
this place. I am not goirtg to bid you farewell to-day ; but I am ad- 
monished, that tkfi 2S//f of October i.s drawing nigh. That will be, 
if I am allowed to see it, on many accourits the most affecting anni- 
versary of my Life. If God shall spare me another seven months, 
then my slated hibors as a minister of the Loid Jesus will close. 
Shall I then find you all living to hear my last words? God only. 
I know, can answer that solemn question. 

5 



34 

But my friends, consider for a moment, wliat events of a Religious 
kind may transpire with us here in tho?e short seven months. There 
will be in that time three Sacramental Communions of our church. 
Are there not some of you, now cherishing a humble hope in Christ, 
who will confess him publicly before my time shall expire ? And 
may not the work of God be revived here before my final Farewell, 
so that I may then see nuniy — yea, even all of my beloved people 
safe in the kingdom of Christ, with the glorious hope that we shall 
all meet at His right hand in the great and final day ? 

My christian friends, I know you wish for such a close of your pas- 
tor's work. Remember, then, that God is the hearer of Prayer, that 
Christ is the Savior of sinners and that the Holy Spirit is the great 
ao-ent in their conversion and salvation. 

Go. then, bearing these three thoughts on your minds ; and rejoice 
that you are invited to labor in the cause, for which our common Sav- 
ior gave his life ujon the cross. Amen. 



